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Here’s a quote I wish I had read yesterday when I bought those pitiful strawberries:

Fruits and vegetables prepared in their season bring joy to the table. As the days turn from dark to light as spring nears, and just when you’ve had enough of hearty stews and root vegetables, the brightest and lightest of vegetables appear–sprouts, herbs, tiny little strawberries, and crisp lettuces. These vegetables fade and bolt with the heat of summer that, in its turn, brings robust and juicy foods–watermelons, vivid red tomatoes, and plums that drip with juice at the first bite. The days grow dark and cold once more, and the apples, pumpkins, potatoes, and roots return. The changing seasons bring excitement and heady anticipation that cannot exist in the seasonless aisles of the supermarket.

I have a feeling that the chickens will enjoy the strawberries. I’ll be waiting for my own to come into season, and believe me, they are worth the wait.

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I woke to rain this morning. And, then, magically the sun came out, and I changed clothes and went out.

The project: replanting the climbing rose and clematis in front of the new fence panels that shield the propane tanks and the generator. AND, re-carving out the flower beds in front of those panels.

As I worked, it was glorious to see the summer thunderstorm moving towards us. And to hear it!

It was NOT glorious to see the chickens out of the fence that I installed yesterday. They are jumping over it from a large bush next to the fence. But they have to stay inside as fox ate one of the hens this week–one of the two hens that are actually laying. You will remember that the pattern last year was one missing hen one day, all chickens missing the next… So as the rain came in, I was shooing chickens back inside their enclosure. (I have an idea for how to block that jumping off bush.) And I’m hoping that one of the hens will go “broody” and raise a batch of eggs by my sweet rooster and the one hen that is laying.

Anyway, Miss Reynolds Georgia is terrified by thunder. She is presently in her laundry basket at my side, shaking and under the covers:

Anyway, when it stops raining, I’ll post some pictures of all the work that Stephen Pennoyer has made possible at this house. I have been blessed, blessed, blessed to meet him. He is so competent, skilled, cheerful, and an awesome worker. What a gift!

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This quilt will be my 100th quilt–remember it is from Material Obsessions 2:

Don’t mind the wrinkles around the diamonds–it’s just how the quilt is sticking to the flannel–and I have not ironed much as there are so many biased edges. I won’t really iron it until I get the borders on it.

BUT, BUT, I think it really needs one more row. It’s looking way too…SQUARE.

So, I’m picking out fabrics for four more blocks and will “unsew” that bottom row so as to be able to insert the required diamonds.

The diamonds get sewn in on the diagonal lines–with each medallion left unjoined down its center–which is doable…

I think you can see the method of construction on the diagonal lines here.

I was in Alewives quilting in Damariscotta Mills earlier this week and took pictures of the version of this quilt that Rhea Daiute did–the one that drew me to this project in the first place. I loved the way she used a stripe for the inner border:

And I love her BIG, BOLD border. Rhea has the greatest eye for color and pattern. Here’s a close-up of her blocks and that striped border:

I could not find a big, bold border so am going with a quieter one that lets the medallions shine.

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I have finished the baby quilts for the Enright family twins that are in the offing in, hopefully, early June. Hopefully as everyone wants them to stay put until early June…

We have our Coastal Quilters’ meeting this Saturday, and I want to “Show and Tell” the baby quilts before mailing them on Monday.

Then it’s on to my niece’s baby daughter, also due in June. I am excited about the fabric that I’ve bought for baby Stevens’ quilt.

One Response

So good to hear from you. It was by chance that I did whatever I did on Facebook this morning. My friend Patty was helping me with a Pinterest question and next thing I knew she had me on Facebook. Oh well, another challenge in the world of technology!
Thanks for responding. We will see what’s next. Love you. Good luck with your chickens!